Show me the money!

[andrewducker]

Note - the figures in question 3 are _gross_ income, before tax.
Also - if you earn more than £49k then tick the £49k box.
[Poll #1429637]

Those figures are the income percentiles for the fully employed UK workers, which you can get from here. If you're in the second group (£312 a week) then at least 10% of the population earn less than you, if you're in the third group then at least 20% of the population earns less than you. If you're in the first group then your life sucks.
Thanks to red_phil for the link.

Comments

[accordingly.livejournal.com]

My life doesn't suck, I'm just a student!

[randomchris.livejournal.com]

I work part-time; if I moved to full-time, my income would be £22k at the moment (although with the job I'm moving to on Wednesday, it would only be £19k). However, for the next three weeks I'm working full-time, which should hopefully net me about £400/wk.

[randomchris.livejournal.com]

(full-time is caused by the end of one job overlapping with the start of the next, in this case).

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

I am assuming those are net pay, so I made a reasonable stab at what mine would be if I paid tax etc. I'd be doing well financially if I weren't about to commence the nebulous period where I am still a student but not getting paid, which will probably eat up all my safety net of savings.

secret option c

[cdave]

Not comfortable with sharing my salary with All, but I'd have done it if only you could see detailed results.

[andrewducker]

The figures are gross, not net.

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

No hang on, I meant gross and wrote net. And now you've replied so I can't edit it and look smarter.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

I may have mentioned this is previous salary discussion, but I tend to forget how relatively well I'm doing because since I've moved to Edinburgh I've always earned less than I was before I left London.

Also, I'm going to be made redundant at the end of the year and haven't a clue if I'll manage to make current salary levels at a new job.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

My life doesn't suck either. I'm a barmaid.

[wildeabandon.livejournal.com]

You're missing the top decile.

[wildeabandon.livejournal.com]

Actually strike that, you do appear to have ten deciles, but I'm a little confused, since the top one seems to be £38k - £49k. Where are the people who earn more than that?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I'm still dithering between "doing OK" and "doing well". In that I don't have much disposable income at the moment -- which limits various social activities and is why, for instance, I wasn't at Eastercon this year -- I'm "doing OK". In that the reason I don't have much disposable income is because my salary is providing for two people to live in a nice flat in a nice part of Oxford and eat pretty well, I am definitely "doing well".

[andrewducker]

I have 10!

And actually the figures aren't quite right, as I've just noticed that they're:
10,20,25,30,40,60,70,75,80,90

The top decile starts at 90% and goes up from there. How else would it work?

[andrewducker]

In that decile! The 9th decile starts at 49k and goes up from there.

Actually, you're right, there should have been a "more than that" option...

[wildeabandon.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's really weird. So you've got 11 intervals, but broken down unevenly, and not including a median. How utterly bizarre.

[andrewducker]

The median is £488, I believe.

And don't blame me - blame the ONS!

[wildeabandon.livejournal.com]

Oh, not blaming you. Just bemused by the ONS...

[andrewducker]

Oh Noes!

Still, you can make a note on your "things to do when I invent a time machine" list :->

[simont]

The top decile starts at 90% and goes up from there. How else would it work?

I think what wildeabandon means is that your poll contains no option which could sensibly be ticked by somebody who has an income of more than £946.80/week – you've got the "less than or equal to £946.80" option, followed immediately by the "no income in that sense".

eta: oh, now I see the comment where that's already been clarified, sorry.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, I realised moments after I replied :->

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

This also depends on your definition of ok, well, and just about coping. I was thinking that just about coping = have enough money to cover bills and food but none left over. OK = have enough that I don't worry about an unexpected bill, can afford to buy takeout/go to the cinema/night out in the pub, have small amount of savings. Well = have enough money for holidays and technology and regular meals out without having to think about the budget all the time, have a reasonable chunk of savings. Very well is somewhere nebulous above that which I haven't quite worked out. I'm not sure where I fit house-ownership into this whole thing - I tend to think of it as something which bumps you up the scale even if it gives you less disposable income, but that might be a way of thinking which only makes sense when house prices are continuing to rise.

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

Your option should have been more than not less than. I'd have felt happier taking the i' m higher than this option. Then you could have included a zero to 13k option to pick up students and part time jobs.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'd probably upgrade to doing well if I didn't have childcare costs.

[andrewhickey.livejournal.com]

I earn almost exactly the median income. My wife earns just over half that, but I've not counted that in my answer.
RIGHT NOW, I'm doing *relatively* badly financially, as I've had several thousand pounds in unusual one-off expenses over the last few months, but I'm still doing better than at any point before September last year (before that my highest wage ever was £6 per hour) and normally think of myself as 'rich' (in that I can buy literally anything I want without worrying - my needs are modest).
(For those who've never moved between those percentiles, I can tell you that jumping from the bottom one to the fifth is possibly the single biggest possible change you could make in life...)

[andrewducker]

Why would more than make a difference? In either case you'd be saying which box you fitted into. As it is the first box includes students/part time jobs.